Anyway, I'd appreciate it if some folks here could recommend some nice sites in Cambridge, and possibly a nice, inexpensive place to stay. We are in a situation now where I don't have to ask for anyone for a place to stay, like I was in an earlier post.

Cambridge is small enough that all the "nice sites" are within walking distance. The one place you need to stand is at the corner of Bene't Street and Kings Parade: the view up Kings Parade past Kings College and the Senate House to Caius College is justly called one of the finest architectural vistas of Europe. Also there's quite a nice restaurant on that corner. Go and have a look inside Kings College Chapel: there's an admission charge but it's worth it. Trinity College is good too. Many of the old colleges are at their best viewed from the river: if you're feeling flush, get a chauffeured punt, or, if you're feeling brave, attempt to operate one yourself.

The only exception to the walking thing is the American Cemetery, three miles out of town, where lots of US servicemen killed in Europe in World War 2 were buried. If that includes any of your ancestors, you might want to get the open-top bus tour which does all the city-centre sights plus the American Cemetery.

Drop us a line when you're coming and we'll be happy to demonstrate to you at great length the city's many fine pubs and restaurants...

My other question is about travel. My girlfriend is a meticulous planner. I've tried explaining the differences in European train travel, but it doesn't seem to help. Basically I'm asking Cambridge residents whether or not you think we'd need to make reservations on trains to and from London, and how often they run.

Non-stop trains run from Kings Cross every half-hour during the day, stopping trains ("local" in US parlance, I think) from Kings Cross and Liverpool Street even more often. You don't need to book; the only time I've seen one full was one time during rush-hour when the previous two or three trains had been cancelled.

See, we plan on ending our stay in the UK in Cambridge, so we need to know if it's possible to travel from Cambridge to London then to Paris by Eurostar. I know we need reservations for the Eurostar, but guess I need to know it's possible to get to Paris at a reasonable hour for checking into a hotel/hostel.

A non-stop Cambridge-to-London train takes under an hour; an hour is a generous allocation for crossing London (Kings Cross to Waterloo); Eurostars leave about every hour and the journey takes about 3h plus an hour's timezone difference. So basically, if you get a 9am UK time train from Cambridge it seems you'll be at Paris Gare-du-Nord by about 4pm Paris time. Cambridge-to-London trains run from about 5.45am.

Having said that, I've never been on Eurostar myself, so I don't know if they introduce extra delays. (Is it like an airport? do you have to "check in" in advance?)

Peter